<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=03I01o_0vlOmJem00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=03I01o_0vlOmJem00" width="1116" height="742" ><figcaption>Sarah Boeke/Daily. Buy this photo.</figcaption></figure>There are very few people on the No. 12 Michigan football team’s roster — or in general, really — who embody their nicknames as much as Jyaire Hill.Even on a Wolverines roster with guys who respond to names like “Dommy Mutz” and “The Don,” the sophomore cornerback’s nickname, “Suga,” stands out. It isn’t just that the nickname comes from his late uncle that makes it special for Hill, it’s that everywhere he goes, he lives up to it and carries it with him — literally. “They call me Suga Hill, you know, I always keep candy on me,” Hill said Aug. 12. “It got passed down from my uncle, after he passed they gave it to me, similar to him.”In that early August press conference at 9 a.m., Hill lamented that he had no candy to give out — he had already eaten all of it. But this past Tuesday, he didn’t make the same mistake twice. In his 10-minute press conference, Hill ate four Laffy-Taffy and even tried to give two out to the audience of reporters. Hill’s love for candies has become so well known, in fact, that Michigan coach Sherrone Moore doesn’t even have to see Hill to know that he’s entered his office. Moore has a candy jar at his front desk, and whether it’s because Hill wants to talk to Moore, or because he’s always looking for sweets, Hill and Moore have bonded over it.“My door is always open and I hear (the players) in there,” Moore said Aug. 13. “I got candy jars in there and all I hear is ‘Shh shh shh shh,’ — dudes getting candy. And I go, ‘Who is that?’ (and he says) ‘It’s Sug!’ And he’ll come back, ask me a question and then leave.”With a love for sweets and a bubbly personality, Hill has become a favorite among the Wolverines. But despite his playful demeanor, Hill maintains an intensity when it comes to football. “He’s got a great personality, but when he gets on the field, he’s serious and he plays that way,” Moore said. “But as soon as he steps on the sideline, he’s Sug again.”Through four weeks as a starting cornerback for Michigan, Hill has had some ups and downs. In the first two weeks and against now No. 1 Texas, Hill was the main target for opposing quarterbacks, and they found success against him. In the past two weeks, however, and especially against No. 13 Southern California, Hill has simplified his role and grown into it. Against the Trojans’ dynamic receivers, Hill had the best game of his career, stepping up with two pass deflections and ending up Pro Football Focus’ fifth highest graded cornerback in college football. And the locker room took note.“You can just see how much he’s grown, and he’s accepted the challenge,” Michigan defensive coordinator Wink Martindale said Wednesday. “The biggest thing you can tell is he’s just having fun out there, just playing football.”This year isn’t the first time in his athletics career that Hill has had a slow start, but like he did in high school, Hill is bouncing back from those slow starts with blazing speed. It’s partly because Hill’s natural talent and work ethic propels him, but it’s also a function of his personality. Like you’d expect from someone whose personality mirrors the candies he loves to give out, it’s hard to bring Jyaire Hill down.***Kankakee high school track and field coach Marques Lowe distinctly remembers Jyaire Hill’s first offseason race as a member of his team. With an early morning track meet being his first ever, Hill was physically more than prepared for the challenge. But in terms of material preparation, Hill was lacking two very important things: his shoes. “We took him up to a track meet on a Saturday, and he forgot his track shoes,” Lowe told The Michigan Daily, chuckling. “He ran in some, I don’t know if it was some Crocs or some high-top shoes, I can’t remember which one, but he won the race. … Everyone had on spikes and track shoes and he’s just out there in normal shoes, and I was just like ‘Oh my God,’ if he’s that fast we’re gonna use him.”And for the rest of his high school career, Lowe did. At Kankakee, Hill wasn’t just a star running back and cornerback for the Kays, he was also an incredibly talented runner, winning three state championships in sprint relays and earning All-State honors in the long jump.“The same interest he had from colleges in football he had in track,” Lowe said. “The schools that were recruiting him in football were also looking at him in track and field … because he was a difference maker.”While Hill ended up choosing to give up a career in track for football, the talents that he honed as a sprinter stick with him to this day. For cornerbacka, speed is prized above all else, and watching the Wolverines play, it’s rare to see Hill get outran. He trained for pure speed relentlessly in high school, to the point that he could have gone to college for that alone. He still utilizes those talents today. “In our workouts you could just see it,” Lowe said. “How he would break on the ball on the football field is the same way he would get off the blocks. He was so powerful that he would be able to cover the ground in a short amount of time. … It’s just that natural speed, that natural talent, it just comes. And when you put speed on the football field, it’s even worse (for the opponent).”From forgetting his shoes at his first meet to standing atop the state podium with his relay team four years later, Hill’s track career turned around very quickly. It translated to football, and even today, it’s part of what got him onto the field as a starter.***With a bubbly personality, an affinity for sugar and lightning quick speed, Jyaire Hill has made a name for himself both on and off the field. His career is young, and still overshadowed by his struggles against the Longhorns. But as he proved Saturday, and looks to prove throughout the rest of the season, Hill won’t let one misstep define him. Because whether it’s missing an assignment on one play or forgetting his track shoes at his first-ever meet, Hill knows that it isn’t how a season starts that defines him — but how it ends. And growing exponentially each week, Hill is determined and laser focused on moving up. But after his games, he’ll go right back to being ‘Sug,’ and he might even have a Laffy Taffy or two — if he hasn’t eaten them all already. </div></body>

Mountain View, CA

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With sugar, speed and a smile, Jyaire Hill making an early impact

There are very few people on the No. 12 Michigan football team’s roster — or in general, really — who embody their nicknames as much as Jyaire Hill. Even on a Wolverines roster with guys who respond to names like “Dommy Mutz” and “The Don,” the sophomore cornerback’s nickname, “Suga,” stands out. It isn’t just that the nickname comes from his late uncle that makes it special for Hill, it’s that everywhere he goes, he lives up to it and carries it with him — literally.